November 18, 2011

Some time ago when I was visiting my mother I noticed she was wearing some store bought slippers in the house but didn't think much of it. A little while later she brings out the Fiber Trends felted clogs which never made it to the blog, I don't remember when I knit them but it is possible it was pre-blog. They had been well loved and well worn and were a bit worse for the wear.

I later slipped them on and realized what great slippers they really make, mother needed a new pair of slippers. Well, I dug out that fiber trends clog pattern and then started to look through the stash for some feltable wool to use up. Looking through the stash always brings up memories. Over the years I have made a few presents for my mother, there was this sweater, and this sweater, and this hat that never fit very well but she was gracious about it anyway. Well these last two projects had left me with a fair amount of left over wool from Coradan Farm which is rather a heavy worsted weight yarn. Perfect for these felted slippers. Problem was that there wasn't quite enough of each of the colors...so they turned out a bit fraternal twins rather than identical, but this isn't the kind of thing to phase my mother...

They may need one more round in the wash but I will get a FO post up when I visit my mother over Thanksgiving.

November 28, 2009

Well, I have to say that I am glad that NABLOPOMO is almost over although I do think that it has got me a bit more in the habit of blogging. I hope to blog about three times a week or so after the challenge is over. It has also motivated me to knit a bit more which is also a good thing.

I am not entirely sure that I understand blocking. It is something that everyone talks about but I am not entirely sure of its purpose or when I should do it. Looking at a couple of web sites I see that they recommend that it be done before sewing a garment. Then there is the part that says slightly dampen. Seems I missed the memo. I tried to teach this monkey to swim.

He coughed and sputtered and sank to the bottom of the sink. After a heroic rescue he is now drying out on a towel. I think I should have pulled out the neck and retried with less stitches but then I remember that babies have huge heads and I would hate for it not to fit over Baby Bella's head.

Pattern: My Little Monkey Romper by Cindy Polfer found in Best of the Worstedsedited by Bobbie Matela

Needles: Knitpicks options sizes 4 (3.5 mm) and 7 (4.5 mm)

Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy Worsted (green, brown, cream and yellow)

Size: 18 months

Started: March, 2009

Finished: November 28, 2009

Notes: This project proves to me that I could use a little more practice with intarsia but overall I think it came out well.

November 11, 2009

I need to head out to see the boys play the Islanders. Let's hope it turns out at least this well.

Here is the progress on the monkey romper -- I have some sewing, some bands for the legs, lots of ends and quite a bit of blocking to do but it is getting there. I am sure I will be able to present it to baby Bella by next Monday.

November 09, 2009

I am fallible and make mistakes and I can take the responsibility and correct them. I found those missing needle tips -- right where I had left them. With the monkey romper which was stalled when I forgot to decrease for the arms while completing the monkey.

I had pulled out the monkey's head down to the mouth and then reknit it but I wasn't careful enough and got the rows off and it seemed wonkey so I pulled it out again tonight and I am still not sure there isn't an extra row in one or another of the colors but here is where it stands... Just to the monkey's eyes, a row or four rows into the decreases, I lost quite a few unnecessary rows when I pulled it out this second time, I am hoping that counting rows instead of measuring will serve me well. I have a bit of headache and so I am putting it aside for tonight and will look tomorrow to see if I am going to pull it out for the third time or pray for the power of blocking. My goal is to finish this romper by the end of the week.

November 08, 2009

I am more or less a selfish knitter. More than anything else I knit because I enjoy knitting and I knit for myself (which means that if I don't finish them, it is only me who is effected). But when my step mother started talking about the sweater pattern she saw in the window of the local yarn store, I thought the sweater might make a nice gift. It was this pattern book by Martin Storey. The cover sweater.

We talked about color and she wanted it to look like the one pictured here. I had some trouble tracking down enough yarn in the same dye lot and once I finally got it and started the sweater, I broke my arm ice skating. This is where the project was stalled.

I have decided that now that she has forgotten all about this sweater it would make a great Christmas or birthday gift (her birthday falls 17 days after Christmas). So now all I have to do is dig up the needle tips which were moved to some other project and get knitting on this. I think I should look in the box with the monkey romper which needs a few final touches before baby Bella is too big to wear it.

June 22, 2009

Well, little Isabel finally made it into the world Wednesday morning shortly after midnight and I have yet to finish the monkey jumper I was making her. Why? you might ask -- well look at this picture, do you notice anything missing?

How about now when you can compare the front with the back?

Yes, I forgot to make the decreases for the sleeves on the front. I had this sneaky suspicion that it was an "at the same time" direction but I failed to believe that I might have to start the decreases before I was done with the monkey. So, I finished the monkey and realized I have to pull out the last couple of inches and reknit them. I haven't been able to face this fiasco so I have been casting on new projects just to avoid pulling out intarsia. But now that the baby has made her entrance to the world (although somewhat reluctantly as she held out for an extra week, an induction and still they had to go with the Cesarean) I had better suck it up and stop monkeying around.

November 06, 2007

Finally after years of waiting I have finished my mother's sweater. I brought it in the car on my way to Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival during the weekend of festivals with just the collar and the seaming left to do. I was meeting my mother there and thought I could seam it up while watching the sheep dog trials. However the weather was extremely hot and dusty and sitting around with a whole sweater on my lap was out of the question. My mother, however, wasn't aware of how close to finished I was. She pulls me over to check out the pockets in a sweater hanging in one of the booths (not wanting to ask about her sweater outright), she points out cardigans but then as soon as I mention that it is almost finished -- just a row or two on the collar and lots of seaming -- she states that it is much too hot for a sweater today and she will gladly come to get it once the weather turns colder (she is nothing if not gracious after her needling and nagging).

In past years I have given my mother flowers on my birthday since in my ego centric world it is my mother's day. This year I will present her with a sweater, just like the old sweater. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Hopefully, she will agree to model it when she comes to pick it up (or when I drop it off). If not, I will have my photographer take some pictures so that I can do a summative post.

October 02, 2007

In an effort to finish some things up and put some order to my house, I have been rescuing abandoned knitting from various parts of the house and dedicating myself to finish things rather than start new things. (Although while searching for matching yarn or previously knit parts I keep finding things that I want to start but then I imagine that I need the needles that are stuck in some piece of abandoned knitting.) Well, two different people had asked about my mother's sweater in the past few months and with just the fronts between me and a finished sweater I figured I better get working on it. The weather will soon be turning crisp and my mother will need a warm sweater for her walks out to the chicken house to gather eggs.

I have finished the five pieces and now must work on the button bands, pocket edgings and collar. I should be able to get to the seaming by tomorrow and will easily be done before the Montpelier Sheep Dog Trials and fiber festival where I will see my mother. Now if only I can find the buttons that my mother bought for this at MDSW year before last.

February 23, 2007

Not too much to speak of happening here at 40 shades. I am plugging away on the Log Cabin Blanket and am back on my random self imposed schedule of 1 square per week which would have me finished with 51 blocks by today (I am currently half way through 52). But there is knitting that I should be doing and have been putting off. My sister called with big news...

Yes, she is having twins. That is twice the baby sweater knitting. That changes everything. I started looking at patterns, cute coordinating intarsia sweaters , complicated cabled arans, sweet little frilly things. Who was I kidding? We all know that I am deadline challenged when it comes to baby knitting and these girls are due in May (does that make them geminis?) So I decided that I would make cute stripey sweaters of my own design. And because I am anti baby colors, I have chosen greens and oranges. Now to get knitting...

November 30, 2006

Well, I will go with popular opinion and use the Celtic knot buttons on the yellow haiku. I was swayed by the argument of ease of buttoning on squirmy children and maybe I will decorate a plain sweater with the whimsical buttons without function.

I was distracted from seaming the green trellis which I will get to this weekend (and then need to decide on buttons -- maybe I should purchase more Celtic knots?). I have a baby shower in 9 days and I hadn't figured on having to knit for this baby. I cast on for a Baby Kimono from the Mason Dixon knitting book. I am more than half done with only a few hours of knitting although I worry if a baby wrist will fit through a cuff made from a 4" sleeve. I am knitting with some variegated cotton that I bought on my early forays into e-bay -- I got a huge lot at a great price but it is a questionable yarn as far as my likes and sensibilities. If this works out I may make a slew of these to use up the bounty.

I left my photo cable at work yesterday (and had training in Richmond today) so I will post a picture in the morning.